PICS, will do.

Looks great.

Nice tig work, once again.

Just a brief update. Finally back from the holiday. I love vacation, gives me time to think about everything I wanna do when I get home. Kinda crazy how that works. Anyway, I arrived at that interesting point of wanting to change my shock mounts before I go further.

Wanting to change my shock mounts led to wanting to change other items while I was at it. While on vacation I kept thinking about positive camber changes upon steering articulation and the relation to the 13 degree KPA the 06 TRX spindles have. I had indicated I wanted to use the 2006 spindle version and that was due partially to my front wheel offset and the desired KPA range I shoot for of 10-20 degrees.

As I thought further about my front end geometry....I thought further about my front end geometry..
Some of my musings went further to the front shock angles and placement. There is the theory of how to mount shocks and it's justifications and then there are the realities such as things in the way or the manner in which one shock works versus another.

My original shock mounts had them perpendicular to the lower control arm at full compression. One thing I observed about the Fox Air on the front, was a tendency to want to be all the way extended when trying to set the ride height with pressure. I've entertained that here is an area where builders can use angle along with other tuning parameters to achieve the desired result. One can change the mount angle which will change the relative effectiveness of the system, which all still relates to the functioning of the shock as a part of the system.

Adnoh, I wanted to use the 06 spindle as part of my effort to have a desirable Scrub radius with my current wheels. The 13 degree angle brought the King pin angle intersection closer to my wheel/tire centerline. The combination resulted in some scrub <0.75", which I was willing to "feel" out once I drove the buggy. Some scrub is good for self centering and braking, to much sucks.

Bullnerd: The current spindle seemed to match good with the current wheel offset. That being said, I purchased 2005 TRX450R spindles which have a 10 degree KPA, and additionally I purchased new wheels with more offset, and as a bonus, bead locks :)

So, while I'm changing things ....I decided to re-evaluate my lower shock mount to ensure my suspension stops at an appropriate location on full extension. I can limit overall compression with shock tuning. Additionally my goal is to evaluate the shock mount angle to see it's effect on ride height, extension and compression, as it relates to an Air shock.

I'm semi sure I have my steering worked out. This is one area however that I need to actually install the parts and see. I know what the math says, but lets see what the installed parts say. Here are a couple pics of the removed lower shock mount.

Awesome! Glad to see the site up and running strong....Made me a little down for a couple hours..

Well, here is a quick up date. I received the 2005 TRX450R spindles and man, I think they are the ticket. All the modifications I was going to do to the 2006 spindles would have been over kill. I put the new spindles on and did a quick camber change, good to move forward till the final alignment.

I finished the new lower shock mounts, they are much better then the first set. I still have ALOT of work to do but it's all good. I know it will be worth it when it's finished. So for the moment here is a quick pic. I'll put a few up later tonight of it sitting outside. I'm really getting pumped.

Awesome work.
The one thing I did notice when someone does the front arm change is that the machine looks naked without a front bumper of some kind. It just looks "odd" without it. Any plans ??

CO, I absolutely agree. Like I normally do, I've been staring at it. My initial idea is an aluminum bumper with an integral lower skid plate. I'm open to ideas. I've been googling and also searching on here different bumpers. I'll know the right one when it comes to me. So, yes, it definitely needs a bumper cause it do look naked!

What about the traditional original oddy front bumper but a bit longer and made of the aluminum ??

Really like the front end design. Having the front wheels out there beyond the frame allows for a lot of buffer when you come in nose down off a jump....

Any updates on steering?

After talking to guys on this site from the west coast today, I noticed a couple things. The time listed on the posts is not accurate. Also, they were able to get on and at that exact moment, I wasn't. I guess we ll see...


As promised here are additional pictures.

CO, that is the exact way I am leaning with the front bumper. I like the oddy factory front bumper. I'm gonna shoot for replicating it in aluminum, including the thick clam shell brackets.

As for steering. Well, I plan on using a rack and pinion from sweet manufacturing that has an extremely high ratio, in fact the highest I have found. I am also going to use a 1 to 2 steering quickiner feeding into a power steering unit. It should yield lest then a 90 degree turn of the wheel for a very controlled full articulation of the steering.

Is that a 1970 firebird back there ?? Better get on it next.

Any updates on the steering?

So, I didn't want anyone to think I fell off.. Here's a little update. I've been very busy at my "day" job and I've been trying to finish this 426 Hemi up... I have more hours then I can count in this black car.. And hey great news...The guy who owns it bought another original Hemi this past weekend, now he has 5... Crazy, but he loves all this Hemi! Oh,, he wants the new car totally taken apart and done from the ground up..

I will put another post up with some pictures of the steering set up.

So, I have like 3 different set ups I would like to experiment with for my steering. Here is the first one I'm doing a proof of concept on. This is a hybrid rack set up. 3/4 ss crossbar, linear slide bearing, rated at 2800 ft/lb side load, etc. The steering arm has a slide bearing mechanism which allows the rack to slide side to side, there are delrine slides for each side of the arm where the bearing goes and aluminum capture plates which inturn will keep the center bar from rotating. There will be dust boots on each side of the bearing retainers. I'm also putting power steering on it. I am making a new steering column, look at the pics, There are roller bearings top and bottom, aluminum retaining rings and each end will have a machined splined end for the factory steering yoke and the steering arm. I''m also making longer brake cables to clear the power steering unit, yet run the factory master cylinder almost in the factory location. I'm hoping to have this functional within a month. I do not ride in sand so I want to see how this works. I put similar set ups on pro race snowmobiles I build.

That looks good.

Linear balls are so cool to play with!

Good seals will probably be the key to survival.

Also, I just thought about that shaft getting nicked? Like from a rock or ?. A nick might do it in, those linear bearings do not like grit!

Maybe a shield or boot? Like fork shields?

There are tons of details left out, just wanted to show alittle progress. Can't wait to drive this thing...

Yeah, I figured that. I am getting ahead of myself again

Fiat-Chrysler is working to take the current HEMI out of its mainstream vehicles in 2019. Coming out with a turbo charged V6 with alleged smaller displacement than the Ford 3.5L V6 turbo (for efficiency). But the V8 version will still be an "option" at least for a little while. Heard they were working on a straight 6, but was taking up too much real estate (friend works at the proving grounds in Chelsea). Smaller, lighter, more efficient, 2 less cylinders of internals, and probably checking the box on a ton of Federal-mandated fuel economy and environmental regulations. There's no replacement for displacement, but boost is CHEAP.

So, I thought I'd throw up a few pics that I took during mock up and fit up of the rack. These are not finished product pics, however they should give everyone a good idea of what I have going on. I will say, I LOVE THE STEERING... I want to do my part to keep things lively.....
The pics show the needle roller bearings that I'm putting in the steering column, the delrin wear seals I machined for everywhere, the basic slide assembly for the rack and steering mechanism, etc. I will post a video of it in action in a couple weeks..

Sweet!

Is the section of steering shaft that rides on the needle bearings hardened?

I learned that lesson the hard way!

It may not be necessary for such low "rpm", but there might be some pretty good loads on it?

You probably know more about this than I do, just curious.

The shaft itself is not hardened. The end parts however are. I'll be just as curious to see what happens. That said I am going to phosphate passivate the entire shaft just like the factory one was. The passivation adds a layer of wear resistance. I wasn't going to even do that until I took mine apart and saw that coating. Whats really crazy is the way the factory steering bushings were set up when new, I'm not sure how they survived loading the oddys onto the trailer when leaving the dealership after being purchased.

Awesome work. Are you going to use the power steering motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )), or am I just not seeing it right. Looks like the steering shaft is full length. Don't you have to cut it down for the power steering?

Yes, I am going to use the power steering set up. I figured I'd make the upper and lower mounts while keeping the column in one piece to make it easier to nail the shaft alignment when fitting the power unit. At least this is my plan. I bought all the parts needed also to make longer brake cables.

I'm going to start pushing to get this thing done as I really want to see how it all works.

I put together a quick video to give everyone an idea of how the steering is coming together. As I've indicated I still have alot of work to do yet. But here is a little peek, enjoy..

man that is looking good my friend..

Thanks for the video. Looking great. Regarding the linear bearings, impact of shock loading/shaft deflection if any and alignment issues if any with overall front end wear, i.e. Rod ends, ball joints, A-arm ends?
Also debris impact on the bearings, wear and tear on the shaft from rocks etc during routine use?
Thank you.